Anti-freezer for air lines



llnited States Patent ANTI-FREEZER FOR AIR LINES William C. Landis, Pittsburgh, Pa, assignor to Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Wilmerding, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 22, 1955, Serial No. 495,920

3 Claims. (Cl. 138-34) This invention relates to anti-freezers for air lines or pipes through which fluid under pressure is transmitted and which may be subjected to sub-freezing temperatures when in use.

Conduim or pipes through which air or other pressurized fluid is transmitted, such as in railway train brake systems, for example, must be protected against freezing of moisture condensation in said pipes to prevent obstruction of flow of the air or fluid in the system, with consequent danger of failure of brakes to operate properly. One method used in combating this danger is to interpose in the train air line a container of volatile anti-freeze liquid, such as alcohol, from which a wick extends into the pipe and path of the fluid as it flows, oris forced, through the pipe, to introduce the anti-freeze vapor therein to prevent freezing of any moisture in the pipes.

With many types of anti-freezers in present use, replenishing the supply of anti-freeze liquid presents a problem in that the pipes where the'anti-freezers are located usually are charged with fluid under pressure. Hence, it becomes necessary to isolate the anti-freezer and relieve the fluid pressure therein before refilling it with alcohol. This is usually done by closing a cock in the conduit between the source of fluid pressure and the antifreezer and then bleeding the conduit section in which the anti-freezer is located.

Accordingly, the principal object of my invention is to provide an improved type of anti-freezer characterized by valve means for isolating the anti-freeze liquid storage chamber from the pressurized fluid in the pipes at the anti-freezer itself while refilling said chamber, thereby avoiding the necessity for bleeding the fluid line before so refilling the chamber.

Other objects and advtnages will become evident from the following more detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view, primarly in section, of an anti-freezer device embodying the invention, and Fig. 2 is also an elevational view, partly in section and partly in outline, of the same device as seen from the left of Fig. 1, showing further details of construction.

Description and operation The anti-freezer device embodying my invention comprises a casing 1 which has formed therein at its upper portion, as viewed in the drawing, two axially aligned, screw-threaded pipe connections, or ports 2, 3 for installing said device in a fluid pressure conduit (not shown), one of said connections acting as an inlet, the other as anoutlet, as indicated by the arrows. The upper portion of the casing 1 is divided by a separating wall 4 from a lower portion of said casing which cooperates with said separating wall to form a chamber 5 wherein an anti-freeze liquid 6, such as alcohol, is contained.

A removable drain plug 7 for chamber 5 is secured as by threads in the lower wall of the casing, and has re- "inc movably secured thereto a rod 8 for supporting a cylindrical wick 9, the wick being secured at the upper end of said support rod, as by a coil spring 10, and extending from the body of alcohol 6 up into a connecting passageway 11 between the inlet and outlet connections 2, 3.

The passageway 11 is intersected by a plug type valve 12 which has a coaxial bore or recess 12:: to allow the wick 9 to extend thereinto and into the passageway 11. The valve 12 is provided with a transverse passage or bore 13 which, when said valve is in normal or open position, in which it is shown in the drawing, establishes communication between the inlet 2 and outlet 3 through passageway 11. The valve 12 operates in a correspondingly tapered bore 12b of the casing and has a stem 14 which projects exteriorly of the casing and on which a handle 15 is secured for turning said valve to its said open position or to a closed position in which communication between the inlet 2 and outlet 3 is interrupted or disestablished.

A resilient gasket 16 is compressed between the upper portion of the valve 12 and a retainer nut 17 surrounding the stem 14 and screwed into the casing 1, for urging the valve 12 into sealing engagement with the tapered wall of the bore 12b of the casing. A sealing (I -ring 18 is carried in an annular groove in the stem 14 to prevent leakage of fluid along the stem.

The portion of the casing 1 containing chamber 5 is provided with an air-tight filler plug 19, as shown in Fig. 2, which plug has attached thereto a rod 20 extending into chamber 5 for checking the level of alcohol 6 therein. The plug 19 has formed therein a slow pressure-release vent 21 opening to chamber 5 and closed to atmosphere when said plug is screwed all the way into the casing 1. When the plug 19 is partially screwed out of the casing l, the vent allows slow venting of pressure in chamber 5 to atmosphere before said plug is removed entirely from the casing.

With the anti-freezer device installed in a fluid pressure conduit, the current created by fluid under pressure passing from the inlet 2 to the outlet 3, through passageway 11 and over the wick h extending into said passageway, and traveling in the direction indicated in the drawing by arrows, for example, will carry with it vaporized anti-freeze which mixes with any moisture in the fluid to prevent freezing thereof should the temperature in said conduit go below the freezing temperature of water.

According to my invention, if it is desired to check the level of anti-freeze liquid in chamber 5 or to replenish the supply thereof in the chamber 5, it is not necessary to close a cock in the air line remotely removed from the anti-freezer device and between the anti-freezer device and the source of fluid pressure for the air line before removing plug 19. The valve 12 is merely operated to its closed position, in which it not only disestablishes communication between the inlet 2 and the outlet 3, but also isolates chamber 5 from passage 11 and the fluid pressure in the conduit.

With the valve 12 in its closed position, the filler plug ill may then be partially unscrewed to the point where the vent 21 permits any fluid pressure in chamber 5 to be first dissipated to atmosphere. After this pressure is relieved, the plug 19 may then be removed entirely, and if it is required, anti-freeze liquidpoured into chamber 5. Plug 19 may then be replaced and valve 12 subsequently returned to its open position.

From the above description of my invention it will be apparent that I have provided, for use with fluid pressure conduits, an anti-freezer device characterized by its simplicity of structure and operation and low cost of mama facture and maintenance, making it unnecessary to close remote cocks in the pressure lines and bleeding said lines in order to replenish the supply of anti-freeze liquid.

Having now described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An anti-freezer device comprising a casing interposable in a fluid pressure conduit and having a passageway through which fluid in the conduit flows, said casing having also a chamber for containing a supply of vaporizable anti-freeze liquid, a plug valve having a transverse passage effective in an open position of the valve to establish communication through the passageway in said casing, and having also a coaxial bore intersecting said transverse passage and being always open at the end of the valve to said chamber through which bore communication between said chamber and said passageway is established when the valve is in its open position, said valve being operative to another position in which the said transverse passage is out of registry with the passageway in said casing to interrupt flow of fluid through said conduit and also to disconnect said coaxial bore and said chamber from said passageway, and wick means supported on the casing in said chamber and extending into the said coaxial bore of said valve so as to be exposed to the stream of fluid flowing through the said passageway and conduit when the valve is in its open position to enable introduction of anti-freeze into the fluid in the conduit by vaporization.

2. An anti-freezer device adaptable for use in a conduit through which fluid under pressure is flowing, comprising, in combination, one portion of a casing having oppositely arranged inlet and outlet connections where by the anti-freezer device may be installed in the fluid pressure conduit, said one portion of said casing having provided therein a passageway connecting said inlet and outlet connections and through which fluid under pressure may normally flow from the inlet connection to the outlet connection, another portion of said casing form ing a chamber for storing an anti-freeze liquid, said chamber being normally open to said passageway and subject to the pressure of fluid therein, wick means for carrying said anti-freeze liquid from said chamber into the path of flow of said fluid under pressure until the supply of said liquid in said chamber has been exhausted, and manually operable plug-type valve means interposed in said passageway and having formed therein a passage which, when said valve means is in a normal position, is in registry with said passageway for permitting flow of fluid under pressure, said valve means also having a bore intersecting said passage and always open to said chamber, through which bore and passage said chamber is open to said passageway and into which bore said Wick means extends for carrying said anti-freeze liquid into said fluid pressure flow, said valve means being operable to a closed position in which said passage is moved out of registry with said passageway for closing communication therethrough and for isolating said passage, bore, chamber and Wick means from the pressure of said fluid in the conduit.

3. An anti-freezer device as claimed in claim 1, further characterized in that the wick means is cylindrical in form and of substantially less diameter than the coaxial bore in said valve to provide an always open annular clearance space between the wall of the bore and the wick through which clearance space fluid pressure communication between said transverse passage and said chamber is maintained.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 965,554- Bayles July 26, 1910 7 970,292 Barbre Sept. 13, 1910 1,336,984 Wood Apr. 13, 1920 7 1,418,942 Link June 6, 1922 1,766,581 Baker June 24, 1930 1,778,138 Wood Oct. 14, 1930 

